Microsoft Delivers New Tools and Training for Advertisers, Search Marketers and Webmasters

Microsoft Corp. today unveiled two tools and an accreditation
program designed to help customers make the most of their experience
with Microsoft adCenter and Live Search. Microsoft adExcellence,
opening to all U.S. adCenter users today, is an official training and
accreditation program for adCenter. The Microsoft adCenter Add-in for
Excel 2007 and the Webmaster Center are new tools designed to help
advertisers improve the quality of their search advertising campaigns
and help optimize Web sites for Live Search, respectively.

“The
adExcellence program, adCenter Add-in and Webmaster Center are three
great examples of Microsoft delivering on its commitment to provide
customers with the tools, transparency and programs they need to
maximize their success with our products and services,” said Aaron
Easterly, general manager, Advertiser and Publisher Solutions at
Microsoft. “We believe that providing unfettered access to data and
best-in-class training is simply the best way to do business and to
help ensure the success of the advertisers and marketers that choose to
do business with Microsoft.”

Microsoft adExcellence

The
Microsoft adExcellence program provides agencies and advertisers with
the opportunity to become certified adCenter experts. The program
offers more than 20 free training modules and a fee-based examination,
providing users with the ability to demonstrate to their customers and
prospects that they are fully trained and proficient in using adCenter.
Accredited members will be listed in the adExcellence Membership
Directory and will receive an adExcellence logo for use on their Web
sites and marketing collateral. More information about the program can
be found at http://www.adexcellence.com.

Microsoft adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007

Microsoft
adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007 is a fully integrated Microsoft Office
Excel-based tool that enables adCenter customers to easily research
keywords to help them reach and capture the right audience with their
paid search advertising campaigns. Users of the adCenter Add-in can
rapidly build keyword lists and plan keyword strategy based on a
variety of attributes including relevance, historical cost information
and projected volume, and manipulate the data in the easy-to-use Excel
format. The tool will help advertisers quickly understand keyword
popularity and trends and gain valuable insight about demographic and
localization information of actual queries.

“The adCenter
Add-in for Excel raises the bar for search- and data-driven marketing
tools. The ease of use with Excel and vast amount of keyword data are
all extremely valuable for the online marketer,” said Jeffrey Pruitt,
executive vice president of Corporate Partnerships at iCrossing. “This
product helps unlock the true power of search data, providing access to
more data than any other engine, enabling increased understanding of
consumer behavior and intent. Within minutes of using this tool, a
savvy marketer will be able to discover new information to help drive
more successful, consumer-driven campaign strategies.”

Data
accessible via the adCenter Add-in comes from Microsoft’s Keyword
Services Platform (KSP), a revolutionary set of Web service application
programming interfaces related to keyword technologies, including
keyword recommendation, forecasting, categorization and monetization.
The adCenter Add-in, which will be available Jan. 8, 2008, provides
easy access to the tremendous amount of data available through the KSP
and is the latest technology from Microsoft adCenter Labs to be fully
integrated into adCenter following customer trial and feedback.

Webmaster Center

The
Webmaster Center is a portal specifically designed for webmasters and
search engine optimizers. It provides all the necessary resources to
optimize a Web site for achieving the highest possible algorithmic or
“organic” listing on Live Search. This includes information about how
Live Search crawls and indexes site pages; site map creation and
submission; statistics about Web sites currently indexed by Live
Search; consolidated content submission guidelines; and new content and
community resources. The beta version of the Webmaster Center can be
accessed at http://webmaster.live.com.

The
Microsoft adCenter and Live Search teams are attending Search Engine
Strategies in Chicago and WebmasterWorld in Las Vegas this week to
demonstrate and answer questions about adExcellence, the adCenter
Add-in and Webmaster Center.

About Microsoft Advertiser & Publisher Solutions

Microsoft
Advertiser & Publisher Solutions (APS) provides world-class
advertising platforms and tools for advertisers, agencies and
publishers. Its mission is to make buying and selling media simpler,
smarter and more cost-effective across media and devices in the
Microsoft network of properties and beyond. The APS portfolio includes
Microsoft adCenter, Atlas, DRIVEpm, Massive and ScreenTonic. APS
businesses span search, display and emerging media including mobile,
gaming, video on demand and IPTV. More information can be found at http://advertising.microsoft.com.